How to Replace Gutter Drain Pipes

Written by cleveland van cecil| 13/05/2017

Installing drain pipes moves water away from the home foundation. (Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images)

The gutters running along the perimeter of your roof collect rainwater. The rainwater runs along the gutter and towards a downspout. The downspout helps channel the water coming from the gutters away from the base of the home. A broken gutter may leak, or not effectively channel the water away from the home. This can lead to basement flooding or water damage to the concrete foundation. Replacing old gutter drains is inexpensive and should only take an hour or two.

Place a downspout outlet for the new downspout pipe over the existing gutter hole. Trace the inside of the outlet on the underside of the gutter. If the downspout hole is the same size as the outlet, there is no need to cut the gutter. Enlarge the hole using a hole saw if necessary.

Measure the size of the old downspout and cut your new downspout to the same size using a tin trimmer.

Insert the new downspout outlet into the hole in your gutter and secure it down with four screws.

Screw a downspout elbow onto the end of the outlet tube coming down from the bottom of the gutter. Screw it on by hand. Crimp the elbow's end so that the downspout will fit into the elbow securely.

Slide the downspout pipe into the elbow coming down from the gutter bottom. Secure it using screws. Add another elbow at the bottom of the downspout.

Cut another piece of downspout pipe that leads at least 4 feet out from the home and connect it to the elbow. Secure it using four screws.

Attach a downspout bracket over the downspout pipe. Add two brackets for a one-story house, and three brackets on a two-story. Attach the brackets by inserting screws into the holes at the end of the bracket and tighten down using a screwdriver. The bracket should hug the downspout pipe.